Wisconsin’s photo ID law for voters facing lawsuit

The law requiring Wisconsin’s citizens to show photo ID in order to vote is facing a possible lawsuit, as opponents of the law say it violates the state’s Constitution.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the League of Women Votes of Wisconsin is preparing the lawsuit that alleges the law violates ‘right to vote’ provisions of the state constitution not present in the U.S. Constitution.

“It is absolutely clear that the Legislature paid no attention to the (right to vote) provisions of the Wisconsin Constitution when it passed voter ID,” said their attorney Lester Pines. “I’m not aware of any point in which they came up.”

However, Republican lawmakers, including Gov. Scott Walker, disagree that they violated any state or federal Constitution with the law, which was passed in May. Instead, the GOP believes that new law will prevent voter fraud. Wisconsin became the 11th state to approve of requiring some form of photo ID to vote.

The cost of the measure is reportedly $7 million, prompting Democrats to complain about how costly and unnecessary the measure would be, along with the possibility of disenfranchising minority, elderly, and rural voters.

Republican State Senator Mary Lazich disagreed with that viewpoint. “I just can’t stress enough how far we went to make sure no one was disenfranchised,” Lazich said. “They’re grabbing at straws.”

The current state constitution of Wisconsin does not make a specific reference as to whether photo ID is required to vote in the state.

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Andrew Jones is a staff writer/reporter for Raw Story. Besides covering politics, he is also a freelance sports journalist, as well as a slam poetry and music artist. You can follow him on Twitter @sluggahjells.